In the latest example of an out of touch Republican telling Americans they aren’t pious enough, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has called marijuana taxes “blood money.”

Christie told a gathering of law enforcement officials and substance abuse professionals that legal marijuana “should not be permitted in our society because it sends the wrong message,” the Asbury Park Pressreports. The comments were made at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a local branch of the Daytop outpatient rehabilitation facility.

“Every bit of objective data tells us that it’s a gateway drug to other drugs. And it is not an excuse in our society to say that alcohol is legal so why not make marijuana legal. … Well, why not make heroin legal? Why not make cocaine legal?” Christie added. “You know, their argument is a slippery slope.”

Christie then went on to address the question of potential tax revenues other states like Colorado and Washington are collecting in such massive amounts.

“To me, that’s blood money,” he said. “I’m not going to put the lives of children and citizens at risk to put a little more money into the state coffers, at least not on my watch.”